[open] What a way to start...

[heir_to_ruin]

[Well... okay. Dead. That kinda sucks, sure, but he's been down here long enough to kinda know how things go. Some cute little girl thinks she can just wrap everyone around her finger because they don't know any better. Just using everyone around her. It's disgusting. He's absolutely horrified that he's spent who knows how long practically worshipping this girl.

But that's okay. The man is nothing if not confident.

Which is why anyone that's been keeping an eye on the rooftop stage may find an unfamiliar redhead chatting up the specter guards, all bright smiles and casual charm. Insisting, of course, that he knows a guy.

After getting insistently removed from the area enough times the mask drops a little, amber eyes going hard as he stares at the nearest screen. What the hell makes her so special, anyway? Like she's entitled to everyone's adoration. All he needed was one chance and he could ruin her. All this desperate need to be seen and adored at all times meant one little slip was all he needed.

A moment later the smile is firmly back in place and he's strolling out of the mall proper, heading for the housing district. If she's not at work... then she's gotta be at home, right?]

Comments

[schardynfreude]

[Seeing people go to the roof and come back disappointed is fairly standard. Less standard is the repeat customer. And less standard than that is anyone who would dare look upon Esme's visage with anything but fanaticism on their face.

Chiron steps up next to the fellow, gold eyes looking at the screen but not quite seeing.]

I suppose she's good enough, but it's a shame what happened to the other girls in the running.

[heir_to_ruin]

[The guy seems like he's looking at the screen so here's hoping he didn't see too much of the scowl. He flashes a grin at him, turning his back on the screens with a shrug.]

Yeah, she's cute I guess.

[Other girls? Running? He has no idea what this man is talking about but he plays it off, cool as he can.]

It's too bad alright... [A dramatic sigh.] I should look 'em up, I'm sure they could use the comfort of a charming man such as myself~

[schardynfreude]

[He smirks. He still thinks this fellow is more in the know than he lets on, but if so, then the answer is fairly careful. 'I guess' about Esme aside.]

You should look them up. Although at least one of them will never know your comfort, alas.

[heir_to_ruin]

[Damn right, he's in the know. Obviously.

There's a bit of hesitation there, though. He might not actually know what's going on but there's only so many implications a statement like that can mean. And while he's no genius he can certainly make a few guesses. A glance back at the screen, a flicker of that darkness in his gaze again. Disgusting.]

That's just how it is in show business, isn't it?

[Because he's pretty sure, before, he would not have been phased by this information. Like... he would have justified anything she did, right? Isn't that just enough to turn his stomach. Flames.]

[schardynfreude]

It's quite a bit worse than that, I assure you. Though the state of those who die in death is still...questionable.

[It's only a slight gamble. Should this lad truly be just a normal spectre going about his normal business, then any talk of being dead should pass right over him like flowing water.]

[heir_to_ruin]

Where d'you go from here, right?

[A scoff, a shrug another glance at the screen only this time he nods towards it.]

Though if she's not around maybe they're better off.

[schardynfreude]

[Chiron smiles properly, turning toward his new companion.]

You seem like a fine gentleman for the afterlife. Quite aware of yourself and your surroundings.

Unlike most.

What if I suggested there were plans in the works to deal with this woman and her devoted denizens?

[callbacks]

[Well, now. Clocks is on a mission to share the good word of the New Teen Idols on the Block, and this guy's made the mistake of standing still for two seconds too long. After hanging out a moment in his vicinity, watching his own screen, Clocks says, real casual:]

I hear there's some some other group coming up soon. Whole little posse of 'em, cute as fucking buttons. You know, if you're into idol girls like that chick.

[heir_to_ruin]

[What's this? Another lead on ways to destroy this woman's happy little empire? Excellent]

Isn't everyone into idols?

[He's smiling as he says it, sly and suggestive in the way he cocks a brow but there's a sting of bitterness under it... if Clocks is observant enough to notice. So, maybe being dead for awhile has made his play boy mask a little weak.]

Another group, though huh? Someone's going to try to challenge the Empress?

[Maybe an odd choice of word, there, but it sorta feels right, regardless. Oh well.]

[callbacks]

[Luckily(?), even if Clocks could catch the subtle slip, he's not nearly good enough a reader of people to interpret it. Mr. Babewatch's charming persona remains intact, at least in this kid's sunglassed eyes.]

Sounds like it. I dunno, deets are pretty hard to scrape up. I hear there's only one source out there with reliable intel on the newbies.

[How to play the Envy layer: imply scarcity, difficulty, and secrecy, then watch the milling crowd knot themselves into a frenzy trying to be the first to find out more.]

[heir_to_ruin]

Yeah?

[He does, in fact, perk up, all curious like a puppy. But at the same time...]

Not gonna be much of a challenge if no one knows about them. And one source is easy to silence.

[Can't orchestrate a take over without the appropriate numbers. Or a scheme to get in under the radar and take out the power players directly.]

[callbacks]

[There. That finally gets Clocks to pause for a moment, that the man jumps to that rather than excitement or a fervent defense of Esme's talents. Very slightly, he tilts his head, like a bird who's just begun to notice something.]

...Well, from what I've seen, I think it's gonna be a showdown to die for. You know what I mean?

[heir_to_ruin]

[That gets a sharp snort from him, despite himself. Okay that was a terrible pun but damn if it doesn't appeal to a certain kind of dark humor.]

Oh yeah~ From the sounds of it, when Esme's involved, the competition's always killer.

Housing

[mementomoritz]

[As he's walking through the housing area, he may notice something... odd.]

[Well, someone.]

[A young woman, clearly no older than sixteen, trying to simultaneously wrangle what looks like a large box of plastic tubing and glass lenses up the stairs to the higher apartments, while also carrying a big bundle of raw... steak? It's definitely something from the local butcher's shop, at least.]

[She's doing surprisingly well with carrying her mildly unsettling purchases, but seems to be having some trouble with the doors. Currently, she's awkwardly trying to kick the door handle to make it open.]

[heir_to_ruin]

[Whoa whoa okay tiny pale haired girl in distress- seems... familiar. Huh. He's just going to swoop in to rescue her, a knight in shining armor, really.]

Heeey whoa, what's a cute girl like you doin carrying all this alone?

[Probably, it would be easier to take the meat bundle or whatever from her but that's sorta gross, isn't it? So yeah he's definitely going to just take that box from her, hefting it onto a broad shoulder with a wink and a grin. Then turn the door handle for her, offering his most gentlemanly bow.]

After you~

[mementomoritz]

[Medic blinks, looking startled, then smiles cheerfully.] Oh! Thank you.

[The meat bundle is exceedingly gross, a fact she seems to be totally oblivious to. In addition to the haunch of we-hope-that-was-a-cow-or-something, there's an entire raw chicken-esque dead bird in there, too.]

[Other things Medic is totally oblivious to include, apparently, the possibility that chatting with a total stranger about what mad science you're doing at the moment is at all odd or unsafe.]

I'm just setting up a new experiment- it's really hard to get the right effect without live test subjects, or even any fresh corpses. But I think I've figured out how to compensate for the variation by using preserved animal tissue instead of human.

It's going to be so much fun! [She looks like most people would if they were talking about, say, going to a party.]

[heir_to_ruin]

[Wow okay that's a lot of information. He was absolutely planning to follow her in and at least put the box wherever she wanted it but the more she talks the more leery he is of going anywhere near this girl.

He just slooooowly crouches down to set the box inside the door.]

I'll uh... just leave this right here for you.

[Human tissue!?]

I should... probably get going...?

[mementomoritz]

Okay, thanks again for the help! [Just... totally oblivious.]

[There's a brief moment of quiet as she picks the box back up again, about to go happily on her way... and then the penny drops.]

...Oh! [She looks back over her shoulder, smiling cheerfully.] By any chance, did you figure out you were dead recently?

[heir_to_ruin]

[Oblivious means he can bolt, right? Just side stepping away from her and- freezing in place.

Oh no, she's not... ]

Uh... m-maaaaaybe?

[Is that going to get him roped into helping her more with these freaky experiments?]

later

[crypddyd]

[Lion knew there was a newcomer thanks to the phone (because look either Clocks or Medic or Chiron must have posted about it) so he decides the best thing to do would be to make some tea for them to welcome them when they arrived at the house.

So he gets the electric kettle going and has some chamomile tea leaves out and ready to go (because all this information was stressful, so soothing was best), debating brewing a cup for himself ahead of time to ease his own growing anxiety.]

[heir_to_ruin]

[He's just trying to get a feel for the place, everything being so new. It's so nice having things quiet for a change. Everything in Invidia is bright and loud and non-stop. Even here in limbo it's still fairly busy but it's a welcome relief.

Wandering into the kitchen tea, is actually what he has in mind. Stumbling into a giant blond man is not necessarily what he expected. At all.

It's sort of weird, the way the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. The way his stomach drops.]

Uh... [There's definitely an instinctive moment where he almost turns and walks right out. But then, when has Ruin ever had any self preservation instincts? So yeah, Lion, there's a redhead hopping up onto the counter next to you.] They said they need fighters but you look like an army all your own, damn.

[crypddyd]

[He startles slightly at the other man coming in on his blind side, his one visible icy eye dilating to a thin circle for a moment.

But thanks to what happened with Kingslayer he contains his instinct to lash out, instead blushing]

There are better fighters among us- I'm just on the tall side. You must be the newcomer that Chiron discovered?

[heir_to_ruin]

[It's a strange juxtaposition, tall, handsome, blushing and yet there's still a sense of unease that prickles just beneath the skin.]

"On the tall side" he says.

[A laugh and a smirk, neither of which change the way his eyes instinctively flick past the man to the open doorway. Just... verifying the exits are clear.]

Yeah. Ruin. And you are? I mean, aside from tall and devastatingly handsome~

[He even manages a wink~ Never let it be said that anything can deter him from flirting outrageously to bury his own feelings!]

[crypddyd]

Lion...

[He's blushing even more, completely unarmed by this- he has no memory of ever being hit on before???!!]

And please, there's no need to flatter me- we are all friends here. I was making tea for your arrival in fact.

[heir_to_ruin]

[uuuuh Hello? Lion, have you looked in a mirror? It's happened before. Guaranteed.]

Tea? For me? [Uneasiness buried under flirting is one thing but someone doing something nice? For him? What is this madness?

So now it's Ruin's turn to look startled and a little, well, almost bashful? Something he very quickly bypasses, the general unease settling into something more deeply uncomfortable. Poor guy, making tea for their new recruit and getting him. What a disappointment.]

Damn... and you're sweet too. You just tick all the boxes, don't you?